Mark Delaney has reiterated his excitement about the prospects of Aston Villa’s current crop of youngsters ahead of Friday night’s Premier League 2 game against Crystal Palace.
A number of the Young Lions were thrust into the national spotlight when they made their senior debuts for the club in last month’s FA Cup tie against Liverpool.
And since then, the Under-23s have secured two wins and a defeat in PL2 as they continue to impress their coach.
“It’s as exciting as many a year gone by,” Delaney said.
“What we do here is we bring players through from nine all the way through the Academy.
“In the last year or so, we’ve managed to add to that by bringing some players in from Holland, from Exeter, so we’ve added quality to our homegrown players and that seems to have pushed them on.
“It’s a good blend to have. I’m excited because there are some excellent footballers at the club. There are some exciting prospects at the club and we just have to make sure we nurture them right.”
Villa fans can see the club’s young talents in action as Friday’s clash against Palace will be streamed live on VillaTV.
And after narrowly beating the Eagles earlier in the season thanks to a late goal from Tyreik Wright, Delaney is expecting a hard-fought game at Bodymoor Heath.
He said: “I remember that game clearly. It was a tough battle and it could have gone either way. We got a late goal from Tyreik in injury time.
“Every game is a challenge for us with the age of our group, but we know what strengths Crystal Palace have and we’ve spoken about it.
“We know they’ll come with a real intensity to their game, they’ve got some real pace in the team and they’re going to be tough to break down.
“Everything we would want from a game we’re going to get tomorrow night.”
Fans can watch the game with a match pass for £1.99, with all proceeds going to the Aston Villa Foundation.
VillaTV will bring you live match coverage, audio commentary, replays, pre-match build-up including an interview with U23s boss Mark Delaney plus news and views from the club at half-time - with the action getting underway at 5.50pm.
